Raiders Looking New and Improved : Pro football: From Hostetler to defense to special teams, everything clicks in 24-7 victory over Vikings.

It works.

After the collapse of last season, after the wheeling and dealing of the off-season, and after the planning and experimenting of the exhibition season, the Raiders unveiled a new team Sunday.

New in personnel, new in philosophy and new in attitude.

And it works.

For one bright Sunday afternoon at least, it worked nearly to perfection, the Raiders thoroughly dominating the Minnesota Vikings, 24-7, before a Coliseum crowd estimated at 50,000.

Not that it’s time to start ordering Super Bowl rings. It was only one game against a team that doesn’t have all its pieces in place.

“It’s a great way to start the season, but we still have a long way to go,” Raider Coach Art Shell cautioned.

But the Raiders have already come a long way from last season.

For example:

--There was the quarterback. Jeff Hostetler was a radical change from last season, when the erratic play of Jay Schroeder and Todd Marinovich killed countless drives.

Hostetler was the opposite Sunday, completing 23 of 27 passes for 225 yards and a touchdown.

At one point, Hostetler completed 15 in a row, believed by Raider officials to be a team record.

--There was the offensive game plan. Time and again last season, the Raiders seemed stymied by a game plan that opponents were openly labeling too predictable.

Sunday, the Raiders showed several new looks with a backfield that featured fullback Steve Smith and tailbacks Greg Robinson and Ty Montgomery, who sometimes lined up as flankers, and even tight Ethan Horton as an H-back.

Hostetler spread the ball around, completing passes to eight receivers.

He added the element of mobility, taking off to run on eight occasions for a game-high 34 yards rushing.

“Nobody can compare him to Jay Schroeder,” receiver Tim Brown said of his new quarterback. “He (Hostetler) wants to go out and win. He’s not going to throw the ball 40 yards upfield every time. He’s going to throw it for two yards here and four yards there to keep the clock running and the defense on the sidelines.”

--The Raider defense had its moments last season, shutting out two opponents and holding two others to three points.

But the linebacking was a weakness. It certainly wasn’t Sunday, thanks in some measure to newcomer Joe Kelly. Kelly was lured to the Raiders as a free agent from the New York Jets.

With Kelly playing aggressively in the middle and defensive lineman Anthony Smith playing more often than only on third down and the offense getting more time to play, the defense looked even stronger than last season.

--And there were the special teams. They struggled last season, not providing the team with good field position--or the football--on too many occasions.

The special teams made it clear they have turned over a new leaf, by turning up with the football early in the game.

As early as possible.

On the opening kickoff, Minnesota’s Derek Tennell fumbled. When the pile was unscrambled, there was Patrick Bates with the ball.

One of the new Raiders, the team’s No. 1 draft choice had made the first impact in the new season.

“He (Tennell) seemed to freeze,” Bates said. “I had so much time with the ball laying there on the 20, I almost started to run with it.”

Instead, Bates fell on the ball, satisfied with getting his hands on it on his first play as a professional.

“They can never take that first play away from me,” Bates said with a smile.

Hostetler’s first drive as a Raider was equally impressive.

After two running plays, he threw his first pass.

And hit the jackpot.

Finding Brown open at the goal line, Hostetler threw a 17-yard pass to give the Raiders the lead.

After completing his first three passes, Hostetler threw an interception, sailing the ball over Brown into the arms of the Vikings’ Vencie Glenn in the Minnesota end zone.

Last season, the Raiders were often unable to shake off such a momentum-killing play.

Not Sunday. Hostetler not only shrugged it off, but promptly launched a streak that sent officials scurrying for the record books.

It helped that the offensive line, with new addition Gerald Perry at left tackle, gave him time to scan the field.

And even when Hostetler finally missed, in the middle of third quarter, it was actually complete to Brown.

The only problem was, Brown came down out of bounds.

By that point, however, the Raiders were ahead, 21-0, having scored two more times in the second quarter.

Robinson, the eighth-round draft choice playing in place of injured Nick Bell, scored from a yard out, completing a 72-yard, 13-play drive. And Terry McDaniel picked off a Jim McMahon pass and returned it 36 yards for a touchdown.

The Raiders added a 21-yard Jeff Jaeger field goal in the final quarter.

The Vikings thwarted the Raiders’ hopes of a shutout on Minnesota’s final drive of the game, former Raider Roger Craig scoring from a yard out. With newly acquired Barry Word ineligible to play, Minnesota was able to generate only 58 yards on the ground.

But the Raiders had their own missing persons. Bell, their starting tailback, was sidelined because of a hamstring injury and Rocket Ismail, their new receiver/return man, sat out after reporting earlier in the week. The Raiders were concerned that, in case of injuries to their other receivers, Ismail didn’t know the offense well enough to step in.

But they need not have worried.

Playing in a new Coliseum with a lowered field, lowered seats and a lowered capacity, the Raiders have raised expectations for the long season ahead.

Raider Notes

Gaston Green, obtained in an off-season trade with the Denver Broncos and penciled in as the backup tailback, was not activated. . . . Tight end Ethan Horton caught six passes for a game-high 76 yards.